Frozen
by Shoujo Kakumei Rena
Summary: As soon as she had reached for her coat, he knew his time was up.    Lame title, I know. SamusxIke, because this pairing needs more love! R&R, please!


**OMG. I finally wrote something new!**

**I'm really mad at myself for not uploading for like, ever. But here I am with something new: SamusxIke! Because this pairing needs WAY more love than it gets. Still unsure about how I decided to go about writing this. Not only that, but this is unusually short for something I wuold write. But oh well. Hopefully you think it's good. :)**

**Anyway, please enjoy, and remember to review!**

**Samus and Ike belong to Nintendo.**

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><p>As soon as he saw her reach for her coat, Ike knew his time was up.<p>

It just wouldn't register in his brain correctly. She had lost so early in the semifinal rounds, which no one had thought possible for her. With her strength and agility, she was expected to defeat But her tournament was over, and she would have to go back to her home in the far reaches of the universe, and he would be left there with nothing left to fight for.

He watched her closely as she strode lightly across the room to the coat rack, golden hair flowing behind her as she went. He'd always loved her hair. He loved everything about her. He wanted to tell her that…but what was the point now? She would be off in a few minutes now, and he wouldn't have to think about it anymore. She'd be too far away for him to reach her, and chances were that she wouldn't want him to anyway. Still, he wished he could will himself to speak, to get off of this sofa and walk towards her and beg her not to go or at least take him with her, despite knowing that she would instantly tell him no.

But she was reaching for her coat, and the snow outside was falling gracefully down to earth, and the clock on the wall kept ticking, even though _he_ was frozen.

He kept his eyes on her a little while longer; she was carefully pulling her arms through the sleeves of her wool coat, bracing herself for the snow outside. She paused at one point, though, feeling the stare of the blue-haired mercenary on her back. She turned around to meet his gaze, her sky blue eyes boring into his darker ones. She saw so many emotions in those eyes at that moment. What they were, though, she did not know.

"Ike," she said softly, careful to repress her usually harsh tone.

"Samus," Ike muttered in response.

The blonde bounty hunter buttoned up her coat, never shifting her sight from Ike's eyes. Ike didn't think she'd talk to him. He thought she'd leave without acknowledging him. But here they were, attempting to make small talk until that dreaded moment arrived where small talk wouldn't matter, wouldn't be attempted, wouldn't exist.

A long silence lingered between the two for what seemed like an eternity before the woman began walking toward him. Everything became slow motion in Ike's mind, her flowing strides slowly, but surely, bringing Samus closer and closer to him until she was but an arm's length away. With a smile and bright eyes to match it, she extended a hand to him.

"It's been fun." She said as Ike took her hand politely. "The sparring matches, trying to get you to accept being here, random conversations, everything…I'll miss it. I'll miss _you_." She looked away at the end, as though she were ashamed of what she had said. She had practically thrown a perfect opportunity in his face; he imagined the effects of him having grabbed her chin to return her gaze to him, to brush a strand of hair out of her face, to tell her what he had wanted to tell her for so long…

"Yeah," he replied, nodding his head and smiling, "I'll miss you, too."

They stood smiling at each other for only a second or two longer until, finally, Samus pulled her icy blue eyes away from his; she could feel her face getting hot, and Ike could see the faintest hints of blush upon her cheeks as she turned. He couldn't help but chuckle at this, the stone-faced bounty hunter, Samus Aran, blushing! And because of him, no less! He made a mental note to never forget it.

Finally, Samus took a few steps backwards, towards the front door to the manor, still watching his eyes and blushing and smiling and looking un-phased by defeat and immediate departure. She gave him a quick, informal salute.

"Well," she started, sounding almost sad, he thought. "Be seeing you." She spun around on her heel and headed for the door, blonde ponytail trailing behind her.

He wanted to say something, anything, to make her stay.

"Yeah, be seeing you."

But he couldn't. Because even though the clock was still ticking and the snow was still falling and the door had already shut behind her, the coat was gone, and he was frozen.


End file.
